Her claim was soon met with skepticism, players still left debating Articuno’s authenticity which led to Covey and a friend going as far as to host a 26-minute Twitch livestream in an effort to prove their innocence. But still, players weren’t convinced.

Niantic has now held their hands up and admitted that some players had been “erroneously” granted Legendary Pokémon, but these have since been located and removed from their respective accounts.

“A few of our Legendary Pokémon had erroneously been granted to some Trainers,” Niantic explained in a Facebook update. “Thanks to the help of several of our Trainers, we were able to locate them and bring them home safely.”

Related

After starting out with a Yellow Game Boy and a copy of Donkey Kong Land, Alex once hid in his room to play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time one Christmas. Now he shares his thoughts on Nintendo Insider, keeping track of everything to do with Nintendo.